It was quite a year for Darnold and JSN in 2025, but can they take their talents to new heights in 2026?
The 2025 season for the Seattle Seahawks will be remembered for a host of reasons, most notably the Super Bowl win.
But there were other storylines that will be fondly remembered, such as Sam Darnold's ability to end all of the "bust" narratives that had been surrounding him. Plus, Jaxon Smith-Njigba's All-Pro season as he established himself among the NFL's elite.
As a duo, the pair were borderline unstoppable last season, as Darnold and JSN tore apart defenses.
Smith-Njigba posted 1,793 yards and 10 TDs from 119 receptions to easily be the best receiver in football, statistically, and Darnold's 4,048 yards and 25 TDs were enough for him to go to the Pro Bowl.
But how does the pair stack up against the NFL's other elite QB/WR combos?
We have Joe Burrow/Ja'Marr Chase, Matthew Stafford/ Puka Nacua as the two tandems that stand out, not to mention Jared Goff and Amon-Ra St. Brown.
Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb deserve a mention as well, but do Darnold and Smith-Njigba fit somewhere into that upper echelon?
Right now, that could be a tough thing to justify as the pair have had just one good season, whereas the other tandems mentioned have had multiple years of good production.
So that brings us to what 2026 could have in store for Darnold and Smith-Njigba.
Yes, a new coordinator in Brian Fleury will take some getting used to, plus, given JSN's rise in 2025, defenses will work on taking him away and forcing Darnold to beat him with his other weapons.
That is what makes Lamb, Chase, Nacua, and St. Brown so good: no matter what a defense throws at them, they still get their catches and yards.
So Smith-Njigba is going to be facing some defenses that he hasn't seen before, with cloud coverage and possible double-teams, meaning a lot of the attention will be on stopping him.
The big question is, can Darnold get the ball to JSN and, more importantly, can he still deliver? Now, a 1,793-yard season is next to impossible to replicate, but a 1,200-yard or so year isn't out of reach. Neither is another year of double-digit touchdowns.
So Darnold and Smith-Njigba had one great year, and if they can do it again, by the end of the season, we could be looking at one of the best QB/WR duos in football.
